'Miracle baby' delivered after fibroid surgery

Neangela Dixon thought a hysterectomy was the only option for relief from her aggressive uterine fibroid tumors. Dixon’s dream of motherhood seemed impossible — until she met Shari Snow, MD, of the University of Chicago Medicine women's health team.

In this video, Dixon's story highlights UChicago Medicine's expertise in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Minimally invasive gynecologic procedures use small incisions or no incisions to perform surgery for even the most complex cases of fibroids, heavy periods, pelvic pain, endometriosis and more. Compared to traditional open procedures performed through larger incisions, minimally invasive surgery typically results in:

Watch Dixon's story to see how Snow, an expert in minimally invasive surgery to treat fibroids and other women's health conditions, removed her fibroids without a hysterectomy — preserving her ability to have a child. Dixon now is the proud mother of a beautiful baby girl.

About Shari Snow, MD

Shari Snow, MD, is an expert in the management of women's health and provides care from puberty through menopause, treating menstrual disorders, fibroids, endometriosis, menopause and hereditary cancer syndromes.

I was diagnosed with fibroids, and really had some aggressive fibroids. I found out that several of them were extremely large. I had quite a few of them that were in my uterus. So it was really a sad time for me. I was young. I wanted to have children in the future. I was nowhere near that point in my life, like in the relationship, or ready to have children. So it was just kind of disappointing to know that there would be something that might be a stumbling block for that dream to happen.

Neangela came to me thinking that she was going to have to have a hysterectomy. And she had never had children. I offered her opportunities to preserve her uterus by doing a robotic myomectomy in order to take out the large fibroids and still maintain her fertility.
I feel great. I feel like I have my miracle baby, you know? This was a baby that everybody else thought that I wanted to have. But I feel like I have a bond with Dr. Snow, because this is the baby that we hoped for, and that she had confidence that I would be able to have.

In minimally invasive surgery, I performed the procedure through tiny incisions. This allows a patient to get back to their normal activities much more quickly and with much less pain.

Coming to an appointment and feeling like, you know what? She's going to take care of me, and hope's still alive.

Each patient is an individual. I look at each situation and determine what medical treatment is going to be right for that patient. Sometimes, it's surgery. Sometimes, it's medication. I'm able to talk to that patient about exactly what's going to be right for them. Seeing Neangela fulfill her dreams reminds me of why I'm a doctor.